Testimony to start in Elmira murder of pregnant woman

ELMIRA, N.Y. (AP) — Testimony is set to begin in the trial of an upstate New York man charged with killing his 19-year-old former girlfriend last December.

A jury was seated Monday and testimony is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning in Chemung County Court in the second-degree murder trial of 35-year-old Arteamus Wells of Elmira.

He was charged after Erin Jade Smith was found stabbed and strangled inside her Elmira apartment on Dec. 6. Authorities say she was 19 weeks pregnant at the time. Relatives say Wells wasn't the father.

Police say Wells stabbed Smith with a pair of scissors and strangled her with an electric cord.

Authorities say he'd had been staying at Smith's apartment when she was killed.